featured blog posts

There's so much music now that it's pretty impossible to hear all of it - but that doesn't stop me from trying. As we transition into 2013 and leave 2012 behind, I'll be taking much of the music from the last year with me.

Here we are, at BBC Television Centre. It's New Year's Eve, so sadly everybody is off still for Christmas, but we thank-you for tuning in for a celebration of the worst yet most important moments of 2012.

When I wrote my end of year blog last December, in my infinite wisdom, I'm fairly sure I declared it the Year of News, impossible to surpass... However, if 2011 kept news editors across the world on their toes, I think it's fair to say 2012 certainly rose to the challenge. The difference this time? There were plenty of positives to report on, talk about and debate. And - joy, of joys - lots of it was happening on our doorstep.

If I could have one Christmas wish, it would be for our politicians to stop being too embarrassed to stand by culture and support it for fear of being branded 'elitist'. The Arts are for everyone, and nothing embodies this better than the volunteers who worked tirelessly to create the opening ceremony this summer.

The Chinese zodiac tells us that 2012 was the year of the dragon. It wasn't; 2012 was the year of the Boris. While George Osborne looked vampiric beside an increasingly choleric Cameron, Mayor Johnson marched through the capital with the air of an all-conquering war hero.

Matthew Phillips is the Co-founder of sustainability comms agency, Beautiful Corporations, and former advisor at the United Nations Climate Secretariat. He makes videos about climate change as Climate Gentleman.

Before 2012 slips away it's worth remembering that this is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Thomas Kuhn's hugely influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which was itself revolutionary and has sold more than a million copies worldwide.

On Wednesday Twitter released the Year on Twitter - the story of 2012 told through our users' Tweets. The big stories were easily brought back to mind. The vivid image of Boris Johnson dancing at the Olympics created the highest spike in UK Twitter conversation, based on the number of Tweets sent per second. You may recall the episode. The most retweeted message of the year - and of all time - featured Barack Obama clutching Michelle in a robust bodily embrace.